Microsoft expands into enterprise single sign-on

Microsoft announced this morning that they are acquiring Sentillion:

Sentillion has successfully combined patented technology with a deep understanding of the healthcare industry to deliver the most comprehensive set of solutions for single sign-on, clinical workstations, advanced authentication, identity management and desktop virtualization.

While the emphasis on the acquisition is healthcare focused I'm sure that Microsoft will want to roll some or all of the Sentillion technology into their FIM/identity management product line eventually.

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identity management, Active Directory, Microsoft, MSFT, FIM, Forefront

Password Security for Boneheads

That's the title of an interesting article I just read over at InfoWorld. The author points out that many web sites are just not secure with respect to how they store or require passwords:

More disturbing is the way password recovery works on some of these sites. At least half the time, when I get the (unencrypted) recovery e-mail, my password is right there in the message, in plain text. That means the site is storing all those passwords in plain text in a database -- one that's being backed up somewhere and is probably readable by a significant number of admins and possibly anyone who happens to snag a backup tape. It's a catastrophe waiting to happen.

I agree - and I am sure most of you do also - that this is catastrophes waiting to happen and many have already happened! The problem is so much is now tied to our identities that it is nearly impossible to protect ourselves effectively. I once asked a lady in front of me at the grocery store why she wrote a check rather than use a debit/credit card to pay for her purchases and she responded with "I've never had my identity stolen via a check". Good point lady.

Technorati Tags:
security, identity management

Saving (AD) Forests

A successful Active Directory forest recovery relies primarily on planning and documentation, so if you don’t have those in place now—jump on it.

Don Jones, a Microsoft MVP has written a white paper for Quest that provides real-world customer examples of forest failures and why you should be prepared for this sort of a disaster. It's definitely worth reading just to understand the magnitude of a forest recovery.

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Active Directory

Windows Access Rights Explained

Fellow blogger Matt Flynn has published a white paper titled “Expert Insight on Windows Access Rights” which I managed to read yesterday. Matt gives a great overview of Windows  Access Rights, how they are granted and, most importantly, how they are evaluated by the operating system. If you feel your knowledge of Windows Access Rights is a bit weak or you need a refresher on this topic I’d suggest reading Matt’s paper. It’s only 8 pages long but Matt packs a lot of great information in those pages…

If you think you know who has access to files by looking at the security tab, you’re dead wrong. Access to Windows file system resources is controlled via a complex web of interwoven components. And in most cases, users manage permissions on their own files and folders making centralized access management extremely difficult to achieve and audit of access rights near impossible without help. In this paper, we break down the elements that combine to control access to files on shared Windows network resources.

As Matt says, the Windows file system is complicated!

 

 

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Active Directory,security